A known image reading apparatus includes a main unit and an openable unit which is configured to pivotally and vertically move relative to the main unit.
The openable unit includes a document tray on which a document is placed, and a feeder that feeds the document along a feed path. The main unit includes a reading portion which is disposed facing the feed path and configured to read an image of a document passing through the feed path, and a processing portion which is configured to perform controls regarding operations of at least the feeder and the reading portion.
The image reading apparatus includes a cable electrically connecting the openable unit and the processing portion of the main unit. The cable extends downward from the openable unit and is inserted inside the main unit. The main unit includes a recessed portion that is disposed near a place where the main unit is connected to the openable unit. The recessed portion is configured to accommodate the cable being bent. The recessed portion is designed to reduce exposure of the cable and to cause the cable to follow the pivotal or vertical movement of the openable unit relative to the main unit.
In the image reading apparatus, the feeder, the reading portion, and the processing portion operate under control of the control circuit board, and an image reading process that reads an image of a document passing the feed path is performed.
In the image reading apparatus, a thick cable is used to electrically connect the openable unit and the processing portion of the main unit. However, the cable has been recently substituted for a flexible flat cable of which a plurality of coated wires are united to form a flat shape.
However, the flexible flat cable is generally likely to be twisted and bent. Even if the flexible flat cable can be accommodated in the recessed portion in the bent state, when the openable unit pivotally or vertically moves relative to the main unit, the flexible flat cable is likely to sustain excessive twist and bend, which may result in undesired problems such as break or noise in a signal to be transmitted by the flexible flat cable. As a result, irregularity in image data for a document may occur in an image reading process.